Create Your Own Kit for Week in the Life

by | Jul 28, 2015 | Projects & Processes, Scrapbooking Supplies | 14 comments

Like so many scrapbookers, I am constantly tempted by the shiny and new. With so many options within just a click of a mouse, it’s not hard to find products that I love.

However, that doesn’t mean I need to acquire more supplies for my memory keeping. In fact, I recently went on a purchasingΒ freeze after suspending my Studio Calico subscriptions.

So when Ali Edwards announcedΒ the dates, along with a companion kit, for this year’sΒ Week in the Life project I knew it would be best to hold back.

How to create your own kit for Ali Edwards' Week in the Life

I have participated in this project since 2010 and atΒ first assumedΒ I would simply continue my tradition of creating a photo collage to reflect what our life is like right now.

I will do that, for sure, but I feel called to do evenΒ more this year.

My daughter will have just turned 4 during this year’s Week in the Life event (August 17-23, 2015) and will be entering her second year of preschool. Life is full and fun right now; I can’t think of a better way to kick of the year!

Plus, I alsoΒ have a generous stash of Project Life supplies that I’d love to make a dent in. As it turns out, all those supplies that are designed for weekly documentation of your everyday life… they totally work for Week in the Life too.

Genius, I know. πŸ˜‰

I started browsing through my stash of embellishmentsΒ and backlog of Studio Calico Project Life kits. One of the first things I noticed was how the Poet Society and Office Hours kits shared tones of blues and greens with pops of warmer colors.

I grabbed the 3×4 cards and 4×6 pads from both of those kits, along with a healthy selection of embellishments. Since I do my pocket pages monthly, I had quite the arsenal of days of the week stickers collected.

How to create your own kit for Ali Edwards' Week in the Life

(click to enlarge)

In fact, I was a little shocked atΒ how easy it was to compile a coordinated kit from my stash – and in under 30 minutes. It includes:

  • 2 – 4×6 paper pads
  • 40 – 3×4 journaling cards
  • 2 sheets alphabet stickers, in white* and grey
  • days of the week stickers – 2 flat, 2 puffy
  • star embellishments – 1 acetate, 1 chipboard, 1 enamel
  • 1 chipboard stickerΒ sheet
  • 1 booklet of white phrase stickers*
  • 1 roller stamp
  • 1 stamp set
  • 1 watercolor die cut piece*

All items, except those marked with a *, were from previous Studio Calico Project Life kits. The white alphabet is Ali Edwards, the phrase stickers are Tim Holtz, and the white die cut “today” is Dear Lizzy.

I wanted to have cohesiveness of colors (white, black, blues, and greens) and motifs (stars), while keeping it simple overall. My photos and stories will play the starring roles. I won’t use all of this, but it gives me a nice set of options from which to choose (without having to venture into my stash).

How to create your own kit for Ali Edwards' Week in the Life

All that said, you’ll notice that I haven’t shown an album. IΒ am obviously using a pocket page approach, but I’m not sure what size or style of page protectors feels best for this project. I’m all-ears!

Not sure if you should participate in Week in the Life this year? Click here to download our popular Focus Finder tool to figure out which projects matter most and belong on your to-do list.

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14 Comments

  1. Sheila

    I was planning to forego WITL this year because I do have so many other projects in the works. You put together a great kit, Jennifer. I think I’ll look at doing something similar using supplies I have on hand. Maybe that will inspire me, too.

    Reply
    • Jennifer Wilson

      I definitely found I was more excited about the project after seeing how much fun I could have with my existing stash!

      Reply
  2. Susanne

    Very nice kit. I know I have at least one of the SC kits you mentioned still waiting to be used. Perhaps I will take your cue, as well as Ali’s, and see if I can’t counterfeit my own kit.

    Reply
  3. HelenH

    So, I’m going to be the rebel. I bought the kit because of the supplies, in particular, the album (grey Stories). I don’t belong to any kit clubs and don’t shop a lot.

    Also, I don’t intend to document my current life during the WITL, but rather work on family history projects. I have diaries and may pull a day-of-the-week theme in the stories I choose. So I’m customizing the scope and content. I like to work along with projects like this for the community aspect.

    Reply
  4. Margaret

    Thank you for the inspiration to make my own kit for this one. I know I have enough stash to do this

    Reply
  5. Connie

    The years I do week in the life, I simply add it to my yearly album as another section. (I do monthly divisions)

    Reply
  6. LCJinRoslynPA

    I like the way you shopped your stash, Jennifer! Great way to reduce decision-stress!

    I am taking a very minimalist approach to WITL this year – I have accumulated several Altoid tins and intend to do accordion albums inside them with a decorated cover – one for each family member. Photos will be wallet size, faced by journaling… with minimal embellishment to keep things flat. But I do think I will go thru my voluminous stash to find color coordinated flatties before I begin. Maybe put items for each album in a ziplock bag. I want to be able to focus on the photos for that week…

    Reply
  7. Carol Labuski

    Now why didn’t you share this a few weeks ago before I splurged and bought the kit? Ha ha! I have most of those items you put together and I should have taken the time to do the same but I get lazy sometimes and just push the easy button. Oh well, maybe next time. Thanks for sharing though!

    Reply
  8. Paula

    I have a lot of the things pictured in your kit…I’m going to pull them out. Thanks for the inspiration!

    Reply
  9. Gab

    Good for you not buying anything! Your kit looks great!

    Reply
  10. Linda Walton

    Beautifully compiled, Jennifer! You are a scrapping rockstar!

    Reply
  11. Sara

    Wow! I love looking at the choices you made here. And I could definitely shop my own stash of goodies to get almost the same result. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  12. Sara

    Here’s a photo of the items I’ve been hoarding for a year waiting for the next round! Sketchbook by Amy Tangerine, wood veneer camera from a crafty friends hubby, & everything else is from Studio Calico!

    Reply
    • Jennifer Wilson

      Lovely items! That’s the right way to hoard.

      Reply

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